Alright, I bought Math Mammoth. Thanks for the suggestions!

I have Math Mammoth for grades 1-3, but when I was looking at the sample for grade 6, I wasn't sure there was enough instruction there for me to be able to teach it. But that was just from reviewing the samples. Have you felt it was enough for your child to get the concepts?

That's a good idea - I can ask around.

My son is currently in 5th grade (but he has a fall birthday, so he could be 6th grade in public school). Last year, we switched from BJU to Saxon so that he could use the DIVE CDs to be more independent. The placement test had me start in 7/6. Around lesson 70-something, it became apparent this was not a good call for various reasons. Fast forward to now, and we are at a weird place with math. He has a spotty understanding of both 5th and 6th grade level math. It's hard to tell where the gaps are. Some things he will be able to do without review, other things he does not remember. I bought BJU 6th grade and started to teach him myself, but there are concepts in there that I just can't teach (math isn't my forte). I'm fairly sure he should still be doing 6th grade math rather than going back to 5th grade. But I need to figure out what to use for him. I'm not strong in mental math or estimation, but I can teach other things fairly well. Here are the options I'm considering: Chalkdust Basic Math (the DVDs would help a LOT - I also have 4 other kids! But the long lessons might be too much for him at this age) Lial's BCM Sticking it out with BJU since we already own it, just knowing he might not get a great foundation for some things because I am not the ideal math teacher. He loved math until last year. I want him to love it again.

Thanks for the input! Just to clarify a bit, we were moving at a slightly slower pace than normal, then we stopped at lesson 70-something because we moved. I was planning to finish 7/6 before going on to 8/7 because he is still so young. I had some doubts about doing 7/6 at this age, but he seemed to be handling it OK until halfway through the year. Then we slowed down. Then we moved. :glare: So it sounds like we just need to back up to a place where we can review and keep going, maybe skipping the lessons he remembers well. I think he started having trouble after lesson 46 or so. When we started this week, I had him do some practice problems starting at lesson 50, and he had trouble with them. When we were going through it last year, he would get the majority of problems correct, so I thought we were fine at the pace we were doing. If he missed more than that, we would review. He is very mathy, BTW. He is my math and science kid. I should also add that we use the DIVE cd. He likes it and it seems to explain things better than mom can. :001_smile: I do think it is good to know that Saxon could use some supplementation for conceptual teaching. Last year was our first year with Saxon. We used BJU up to that point. The example I gave re: area was just one concept he did not remember. He didn't remember what it meant to find the area of anything. So we were reviewing the concept as well as the formula. Any suggestions for a good supplement to reinforce concepts? Is LOF enough? We have Decimals and Percents and Fractions. We were still plugging through Fractions at the end of the year.

We used Saxon 7/6 last year for math for my 4th grader (this is where the Saxon placement test had us start him, and he has a late birthday, so he could have been 5th grade if in a brick and mortar school). We did not school this summer due to a move. We started this week, and we spent the first two days reviewing. He has only about a 50% retention rate at this point. He did not remember pretty basic things like how to find the area of a square. When do I decide this is more than just your typical summer amnesia? I'm not sure whether we should just keep chugging away or re-do 6th grade math using another textbook. I was not sure by the end of the year whether he was really retaining what he was learning. He could get 100% correct on the lesson, but then miss several in the review.

I'm deciding what components I need for MCT. I'm not sure I want to do building poems unless it's really essential or just so awesome it shouldn't be missed. What has been your mileage with that component?

Hmm. Would it be enough to combine it with something like Evan Moor Daily 6 Traits? MCT is so expensive! If it doesn't include writing, I wonder if I should just go with something else. I was originally looking at Growing with Grammar and Write Shop for my older child, and maybe BJU for my younger one. My kids really need to write. And they need help with both structure and motivation.

I'm considering MCT Island and Town for my 5th and 3rd graders. I have seen a few people mention here that they needed to supplement the writing component. I'm hesitant to spend the money on two levels of MCT if I still have to buy writing books, especially because writing is where my kids need the most work. If I buy the entire package of MCT, do I still need to supplement the writing component?

So, not sure what happened there..... :huh:

Well, I asked him, and he has a strong preference for Saxon. Go figure.

Well, I asked him, and he has a strong preference for Saxon. Go figure.

Well, I asked him, and he has a strong preference for Saxon. Go figure.

One more thing I realized is he prefers to learn from the book instead of the DIVE CD. But I still have him watch it to get the explanation most of the time.

Thank you! Your replies have given me a lot to think about. We switched to Saxon for 2 reasons. A good friend of mine suggested it because that is what she did with her math accelerated boys (one of which is now at Rice University). The other is because I kind of wanted to use the DIVE CDs. I am not confident in my ability to teach math, especially the "why" of math. I might be able to do the calculations, but I don't think I can explain it well. I also did not get any of the mental math that kids learn now. Math is not my forte. My husband is a math person, but when we started this year, he was not available to teach math. He still isn't available every day, but he has a better schedule now, at least for the time being. He could probably help out when we hit a concept I can't teach. I actually liked BJU and was not concerned about whether it would be challenging enough. I admit we have not done every problem each lesson. It was not an issue until just this last week, when he started getting more of them wrong. So I realized he might need more practice. But honestly, he loved math until this year. I think he still likes math, but I don't hear the same level of interest from him. So, I own the previous edition of both math 5 and 6 because a friend gave them to me. What if I try picking one of those up and using for the remainder of our year? Would I start in 6th? Is the new edition significantly better? (We used the new edition through last year.)

My DS is finishing 4th grade, but he has a late September birthday and could be either 4th or 5th grade depending upon what school he was in (private and public schools here have different cut-off dates). We are now slightly more than halfway through Saxon 7/6. We used BJU math until this year. He placed into 7/6 using the Saxon placement test. He does well learning the new concepts, but has some minor trouble retaining them. I am not sure whether to keep moving along with 7/6, finishing it before the fall, or to take a break by doing other programs like Life of Fred (which we have), then going back to BJU maybe at the 6th grade level in the fall. That would put him only one year ahead in math. I want to be sure that he is developmentally ready not only to learn the concepts but also retain them. Do we just need to do more practice and keep plugging away? If we continue, then do we use 8/7 next year or skip to Algebra 1/2? Wouldn't that mean he is doing prealgebra in 5th grade? I should add he is not this far ahead in grammar and writing. Would love advice from anyone who has BTDT.

Sorry to use the wrong terminology. So, regardless of what they are called, I have noticed that some resources teach short vowel words by teaching the child to recognize -an, -am, -et, -at, etc., by having them replace the first consonant. Starfall does this, and if I remember right from when I used it years ago, Sing Spell Read and Write does this. Abeka also teaches "blend ladders" that teach the kids beginning sounds like ba, be, bi, bo, bu. But other resources don't do this and jump straight from teaching individual letter sounds into teaching three letter words (100EZ lessons, for example) . So my question is, which methods seem to work best?

I am going through various phonics curricula, trying to decide what to use. I have noticed that some curricula teach vowel/consonant blends (like -at, -an, etc.). But others don't teach those explicitly as blends. They only teach consonant blends. Which method is better? I am not sure which to use with my 5 year old who is just starting to read CVC words. Also, does anyone know whether AAR teaches vowel/consonant blends? I looked at their sample online, and it does not appear that they do. But the sample is only a portion of the teacher's manual.

One more question. In the instructions, SWB says the following: "Before you read, tell the student that you will read the sentences only three times before asking her to write, and will not repeat them afterwards." Do you adhere to this strictly?

I have the instructor's guide, so I could start there with my kids. I have 2nd and 4th grade boys. The older child could write creative stories all day long. The younger one doesn't like to write. I can see how WWE would benefit him greatly. I wonder where I should place my older child, though. Does WWS make a big leap up? Should I start with level 4 and just see how it goes?

Bear with me, but I have a question for those who have used WWE for more than one year. Does it work? By that I mean, has your child progressed? The style of instruction is foreign to me. This is not how I was taught to write. I am in my late 30s and a product of public school. I did receive good writing instruction, but not using copywork/dictation. I find it hard to just trust that working your way through WWE will be productive. If you have used both WWE and Bravewriter (with the Arrow), how do they compare?

Well, we aren't using SOTW, although it is tempting for weeks when there is a lot of information. I might pick up a copy.

That's probably a good idea. I'm torn between slowing things down and spending more time discussing the patriarchs and just hitting whatever highlights I can so we can keep moving. Slowing down has me feeling overwhelmed, though.

I am struggling with TOG. This is our first year. We are using Y1, Unit 1. I am at week 6, the Patriarchs. I think it covers too much material in just one week. I am having trouble figuring out what to pull out from the stories to bring it all together for my kids. I have UG and LG. Help!:tongue_smilie:

We just started TOG. I have one UG and two LG. My UG is 10. The UG readings, especially in the first two weeks, seem like too much. We are only doing the History Core and Worldview, but it is still more reading than we have ever done for history. I am wondering whether other moms have felt the same way, or maybe I just need to raise the bar. One other consideration for me is that my kids would rather read literature (non-historical) or science books. I am looking for help gauging what is typical for other kids since I don't have a great frame of reference. Is the amount of reading in TOG for UG an average amount of reading for one subject for a child in 4th grade?